Fayetteville girls soccer coach Joe Thoma had a feeling the Lady Bulldogs would need more than one goal to get a 7A/6A-West Conference win Tuesday in Siloam Springs.
That proved to be the case.
Fayetteville’s Hannah Davis scored on a free kick with 29:14 left in the second half and that was game-winner for the Lady Bulldogs in a 2-1 win against the Lady Panthers at Glenn W. Black Stadium.
“I thought we would need two goals tonight, and it was the second goal that won it,” Thoma said. “Credit Siloam Springs. They had two to three real good chances on counter attacks. I know how they they got on Bentonville like they did (last Friday).”
Fayetteville took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Kara Tubb with 15:04 left in the first half. Sophomore forward Gabbie Foster created the scoring opportunity when her pass found Tubb streaking down the far side. Tubb kicked it past Siloam Springs goalkeeper Bailei Brown for the lead.
“Beautiful goal,” Thoma said. “Spectacular pass. We had been working on that play. It’s fun to see stuff you practice work in the game.”
Siloam Springs tightened the game up with 17:28 left in the second half on a goal by Odalys Palacios. Ingrid Gibson served the ball forward and Gibson got it past Fayetteville goalkeeper Gracie Cape to make it 2-1.
Palacios had another scoring chance a few minutes later but her shot hit the left post.
“We created more chances in the second half,” said Siloam Springs coach Jason Bowen. “We’ve been a second half team for most of the year. We brought a lot more pressure in the second half. … We’re a step away on the final pass of being where we need to be.”
Fayetteville hosts Rogers High on Thursday in a conference match, while Siloam Springs hosts Springdale Har-Ber.
Boys
Fayetteville^4, Siloam Springs^1
Fayetteville’s Nicholas Kley scored all three of his goals in the first half as the Bulldogs (8-3, 3-0) jumped on the Panthers early in the first half.
Kley scored just more than five minutes into the game and added another goal nearly 10 minutes later. His third goal with 17:44 remaining gave Fayetteville a 3-0 lead.
Alejandro Dominguez pulled Siloam Springs within 3-1 with a goal in the second half, but Fayetteville quickly answered with a goal from Jan Dhoore with 19:45 left in the game.